Sergio Perez, Red Bull Formula 1 driver, insists that he and his team-mate share more respect than it is believed in the F1 world.
The Mexican driver supported his team-mate Verstappen during controversial 2021 season finale in Abu Dhabi. He held off Lewis Hamilton, which led to praises for him as a “perfect team player”.
However, Perez proved to be more competitive than his team-mate in 2022. It led to an internal battle between the drivers. The conflict appeared publicly when Verstappen refused to follow team orders in Brazil.
The Checo responded to his refusal: “It shows who he really is.”
Red Bull downplayed the incident which fuelled speculations about their relationship. However, in Australia, Perez assured that more mutual respected between the two exists than it is actually believed.
“I’m here to do the best possible thing for myself as well [but] to be honest, we’ve got a lot more respect for each other than people might think out there,” he said.
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“Inside it is a great atmosphere with the team, there is a very high level of respect between each other in the team with all the engineers from their side or my side.
“I think we are both mature enough to know what’s right and what’s wrong. As long as that keeps being the case, then I don’t expect anything to change.”
Perez is only rival to Verstappen
Currently, Red Bull enjoys a huge margin on constructors’ championship standing. It makes Verstappen and Perez the only competitors for the championship title in 2023.
Perez insisted that RB19 consistency is a great asset to his performance. However, he remain educated to prove himself while defeating Verstappen.
The Dutch driver won two races compared to the Mexican who won only one of first three races of the season.
“Of course, if I want to win the championship, I have to beat Max weekend in and weekend out, and keep this level of consistency throughout the season,” he explained.
“It’s all about this season’s consistency, you know. “You can win 15 races, but if in the other races, you just crash and have DNFs and so on, it is not enough. It’s just reaching that level of consistency and taking it race by race.
“There is no doubt that there is no driver on such a form as Max. Together with the team as well with the car he is definitely the hardest driver to beat.
“It will require the maximum out of me to bring my A-game at every single weekend.”
